Available for a Limited Number of Sessions in Florida! (November and December Dates Available!)
I’m taking a trip to the Emerald Coast! I’ll be available for sessions in the Florida panhandle on November 19th, 22nd, and the 29th through the second week in December. I’ll be available for sessions from Pensacola to Panama City and anywhere in between.
Sara and Matt in Niceville, Florida, overlooking Valparaiso and Destin.
Sunrise on Okaloosa Island between Fort Walton Beach and Destin.
Need to update the heirloom that is your family portrait? Are you traveling over the holidays and want to celebrate having the whole family together? Have you always wanted romantic photos with your sweetie on the white sandy beaches? Click HERE to reserve your date!
Do you have friends or family in the northwest Florida area? Let them know I’m here!
Other nearby locations include Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach, Mary Esther, Shalimar, Miramar Beach, Sandestin, Santa Rosa Beach, Grayton Beach, Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Sunnyside, Laguna Beach, Lynn Haven, Panama City Beach, Freeport, DeFuniak Springs, Crestview, Milton, and Bagdad, FL.
Remembering Our Veterans…
Every once in a while I find the time to take some personal photos, and even more rarely, I find the time to retouch and share my personal work.
While down in Florida for a shoot this summer, I visited an old friend who is a Marine currently stationed at Eglin Air Force Base for EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) School. He took me to see the Memorial lit up after sunset to capture a few photos.
In honor of the 235th Marine Corps Birthday yesterday and Armistice Day today (better known as Veteran’s Day in the States, but hey, I’m a dork…), I’m posing a few photos of the EOD Memorial honoring the legacy of our fallen EOD warriors.
There is a separate plaque for each of the four DoD branches of service.
Among the plaques are the names of every US EOD tech that has fallen in the line of duty since the inception of EOD in WWII. A special ceremony is held annually to commemorate and add those who passed during the previous year.
Finally, I want to thank all of our veterans and those men currently serving in the US Military. We appreciate the sacrifices that you and your families make to keep our country great!
USS Nashville – Naval Station Norfolk – Norfolk, VA
In June, I traveled to Virginia to visit some friends living up there with the military. One of my best friends, Lauren, has been living in Virginia Beach for almost 4 years. Through some of her friends, we had the opportunity to tour the Norfolk – based amphibious transport dock ship, the USS Nashville.
The 570-foot Nashville was built in 1966 at Lockheed Shipbuilding in Seattle. The ship was launched on Oct. 7, 1967, and commissioned on February 14, 1970. She was decommissioned today. The ship will be towed to a maintenance facility and remain in the Navy’s inactive fleet in Philadelphia, where she’ll join the Ready Reserve, in case she’s ever needed again.
Photographs are not allowed from the dock, but with permission, I was able to take photos on board the ship.
This is a wide angle shot of a berthing. Within this small space, 18 men would sleep here during deployment.
Right outside the berthing, this cold, hard operating table is the aft BDS (Battle Dressing Station). You can see the berthing to the left.
Here’s the Line Room. This massive rope is used to tie the ship to the pier.
The Well Deck is used for keeping an LCU or LCAC (Landing Craft Unit, Landing Craft Air Cushion) which transports Marines serving on the ship from sea to the shore. The back gate is lowered and this low area is flooded with up to 8 feet of sea water.
The ship’s massive flight deck holds up to 8 aircraft at once. (Some of which include the Cobra, Super Hewie, 43, 52, 68, Ospry and Herrier.)
VERY hard at work…
The Focstle. Each link in the chain weighs 67 lbs, each anchor weighs 25,500 lbs. The Wildcat pulls the chains and anchors up for sailing
The Bridge. Some navigatin’ happens here. 
The Captain’s Bridge Wing. Its like I’m the captain or something… (I don’t think I was allowed to sit here.)
One of the sailors painted this on the Shore Power Cable Box for the “final cruise.”
I also got a special tour of the engine room. This is Main Machinery Room #2. When the ship is sailing, on a normal day, this room gets up to 145 degrees. During the last deployment in Africa, this room was reaching a consistent 165 degrees and must me manned at all times.
The Throttle Board in the Machinery Room. (You can see the back of it in the photo above.)
Here’s another view of the empty Well Deck.
A well worn hat…
After the tour, we chatted about a sailor’s life on the mess decks. I captured a few photos of the reluctant sailors.
BMSN (SW) William Eric Whale, Undesignated Seaman Daniel Jay Martin, and BMSN James Dale Shirley.
At the end of the day, when we were hot, stinky, and tired, the cameras were turned on Lauren and I…
Spending the day on the ship allowed me to catch a glimpse of the sacrifices that our US Navy Sailors, Marines, and other military personnel make daily so that we can enjoy our personal freedoms.
Thanks, guys for the awesome tour, and your service to our country.
Back from Paris!
Bonjour y’all!
I didn’t have the chance to make a quick blog post before I left, but I’m back from super exciting and quick trip to Paris, France! (No, not Paris, Texas, but it is pathetic how many people have asked me that.)
If you’ve sent me an email, I’m playing catch-up right now as I didn’t have internet access while I was away and I’ll respond back real soon! I promise!
This was my first time ever overseas and I was so excited to get a fancy little stamp on my previously stark nekkid passport.
Of course, I took a ton of photos. I captured many of the architecture which was absolutely stunning, but I’m always drawn toward people and I got many intresting shots of the masses. I just grabbed one random photo that spoke “Paris” to me without being the overly obvious Eiffel Tower (which is still awesome) and made some quick edits.
Do you recognize the building?
Merci!